Colby
Colby is a boys' name of English origin meaning “coal town, dark settlement.” It ranked #615 in the United States in 2025. Colby originated as an English place name from the Old Norse 'Koli's farmstead' or 'coal town.
how do you pronounce Colby?
KOHL-bee
Hear it spoken aloud with our AI pronunciation tool.
what does Colby mean?
The name Colby means “coal town, dark settlement.” It comes from the English language tradition.
Colby originated as an English place name from the Old Norse 'Koli's farmstead' or 'coal town.' It has a casual, friendly energy that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The name is also associated with Colby College in Maine, lending it an academic air alongside its down-to-earth appeal.
where does the name Colby come from?
Wiktionary derives Colby from either the Old Norse personal name Koli combined with a word for settlement, or from charcoal plus settlement. Wikipedia gives the sense as Koli's town, Cola's town, or coal town, and describes Colby as a gender-neutral given name.
how popular is this name?
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2025 | #615 |
| 2024 | #583 |
| 2023 | #607 |
| 2022 | #601 |
| 2021 | #651 |
| 2020 | #618 |
Source: SSA National Baby Names Dataset
who are famous people named Colby?
- Colby Covington (American mixed martial artist)
- Colby Brock (American YouTube personality)
what names are similar to Colby?
what names go well with Colby?
Sibling names that share Colby's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.
Last reviewed April 30, 2026 · Curated by HushName editorial
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